IceBear wrote:BTW I assume those of you running princes of the apocalypse have the password for the Elemental Expeditions Adventure League?

No sir, I do not.

I did, however, just finish DMing a 12-hour session. It was our second session, and we wrapped up all the prologue (level 1-3) stuff just before we quite. It was a blast. There were a few unexpected things, but some good laughs, too.

The obnoxious, angry female half-orc caravan guard (intended just to deliver a single piece of info to the party) got into a yelling match with the obnoxious, angry male half-orc fighter in our party that everyone decided represented half-orc flirting, culminating in a (non-roleplayed) tryst that broke the floor beams on the second floor of the Swinging Sword. They'd have had to shell out some gold had the the party's cleric of Lathander not spent the time standing on the table in the dining room underneath spamming the mending cantrip.

Just finished another 12-hour session of Princes of the Apocalypse (D&D 5E.) This time the level 4 party wandered into a level 8 section of the dungeon and achieved what an MMO player would call a 'bad pull', grabbing three rooms worth of enemies. I didn't hold back, either - I laid into them with everything I would have thrown at a level-appropriate party. They had some fantastic rolls and managed to not just pull through it, but to beat the enemies, which surprised the hell out of me. To be fair, one enemy tried to cut them off and mis-guessed where they were headed, while another came several rounds late (they had to traipse through several corridors to get to the party.) Still, I was absolutely certain that at least a couple of players would be rolling new characters tonight. None had to.

My group recently decided to switch to adventures, mini-campaigns, and one-offs rather than a full campaign. Our next session is in a week and a half, and will be a sci-fi Fate Core game. I picked up the book and have been reading it.

I'm glad I'm not running the game. I've played probably two dozen different RPGs over the years, from rules-light to thick and dense, but after reading most of the Fate Core rule book, I haven't the foggiest idea how to actually play this thing!

You hold in your hand the Quaffer's Remorse. After a harrowing battle in the fires of Mount ______ where he injured his leg and watched the grisly incineration of his companions, Quaffer returned to demand the reward of his King's tankard and a lifetime supply of drink to help him forget the cost of saving the kingdom. Quaffer's thirst was so insatiable that his thrown empty tankard was often followed by his axes. Desperate to avoid the death of his cup bearers, the King demanded a solution from his mages. Although the tankard no longer fills with Quaffer's favorite drink when thrown, it still faithfully returns to the bearer and leaves a nasty bruise.

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein"The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest.” - Trump"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. - Nixon

I'm just mean enough to make it a +2 and let it magically refill, but every time you want to throw it, you have to chug it first or it goes inert for a day. May not be appropriate for your son, though.

Anyone watching the latest round of Acquisitions Incorporated game sessions? I totally knew who Ren was. Perkins threw out a huge clue to his identity when he mentioned his goddess Melora in a previous episode. I actually gasped outloud when I heard it.

I'm now almost for certain going to go to the Fathom Live event for Pax East. Hey, it's two days before my birthday...even if I go by myself I'm sure I'll have a good time.

"Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting." - Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia

I didn't back the Kickstarter, so this is the first I've seen. (Apparently the retail release was long delayed.) I've barely had a chance to look into them, but they are big, heavy volumes, and the production values (art, printing, binding) are absolutely top-notch. Added together they are more than 700 pages.

Can't sleep. My sister and her husband convinced me do try the Epic Adventurer's League D&D event at the FLGS this afternoon, complete with the extra hours of power leveling for newbs. I woke up realizing that I've been led into playing the dumb fighter while they're the mages -- so I'll be beaten up tanking while they role play elves like theater nerds.

Maybe I should roll with it and finish the Half-Orc Barbarian. Raised by an Orc Tribe, but now the last survivor with a death wish to go down in glorious battle. Flaw -- reacts violently to any taunt with violence and the battle cry "Blood and Thunder for Gruumsh!" Try to use your sneaky weasel elf ways now...we're going old school hack and slash.

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein"The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest.” - Trump"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. - Nixon

The Reclamation of Phlan Epic event was tremendous. I highly recommend -- it was like spending a day of heavy gaming at a convention. We spent 6 hours power-leveling in various groups through encounters designed to get us ready for the 3 hour main event. My brother-in-law did need a tank, and wanted to spend as much time as possible in diplomacy with a captured goblin and attempting to talk himself into command of a keep after its leader was killed.

Fortunately, quite a few other players were inspired with reckless indifference towards danger. We had set up a defensive position in a tower next to a breach in the fort's walls during an orc invasion to have my brother-in-law lure the attackers into an ambush, but the cleric wakes up to say -- "I'm standing next to him in front of the breach in the walls and my movement is terrible, so I'm not retreating." Fortunately, the cleric was designed for area of affect attacks that knocked down the first wave while the rest of us rushed to assist. I actually had to chase the third wave of orcs into the moat -- where I got knocked out with a critical hit by the orc leader. Fortunately, the party mages and cleric were able to instill fear and then kill the orc before I drowned.

We were a small group of 4 (two 1st level "new to D&D" players and my sister and I at 4th level) players in the Epic event because my brother-in-law was asked to use his usual character to balance out a mid-tier table. It was interesting to see the GM balance our missions to avoid one-shotting the new players and still make them (and us) relevant to the overall story. Basically, we had to focus on the main objective and were able to ignore the side objectives -- which scored lower points for our team and tier, but let us continue.

The new players actually shone when we chose to add an extra "side quest" to stall for time before going into the graveyard. And so we were tasked with stealing from (or fighting) a ghost anyway (the opposite of what we planned). If the ghost became hostile, there would have been a party wipe -- I had the only magic weapon but was a melee fighter, with magic support from a 1st level bard, a 1st level warlock and a 4th level sorcerer. We went in cautiously and used diplomacy to convince the ghost not to attack because we weren't threats. The warlock and sorcerer were able to determine the locations of the items we needed, while the bard sang to the ghost because "it was probably lonely guarding this place all the time." A well-timed roll of 20 allowed us enough distraction to use our NPC retainers as cover for some sleight of hands rolls (all over 15). Every time we rolled, we ended up holding our collective breaths. But our luck held and we were bold enough to acquire 6 of the 7 possible items. That boldness alone doubled our quest points, and the ghost hummed the bard's happy tune, oblivious to having been robbed by an insanely reckless party.

We even finished that portion of the adventure before the owner of the FLGS returned to our table as the NPC vampire unleashed upon the lower-level tiers. He roamed from table to table, daring us to kill him as a single player chased after him with the stake necessary to kill him. The Paladin who accepted the challenge had been weakened after getting his attention for 8 attacks. While our table could do only minor damage, she dropped the stake and returned to her table. I was the only player able to pick up the stake and follow without risking immediate death. We didn't have to discuss long, as allowing the vampire to escape would have terrible consequences for the overall quest. The vampire attacked his favorite prey at the next table then realized that I was able to dual wield two magic weapons to attack him (my +1 long sword and the stake). So I became the focus of his attacks at the next two tables, but the vampire realized that I could gain a third attack with my Superiority Dice (a class ability) every time he missed. One of the tables saw him coming and prepared -- they unleashed a magic item they obtained as a reward to do 48 points of explosive damage plus their other formidable magic attacks -- and I contributed by double critting (thanks to advantage) to do over 30 points of damage. The vampire was angry, and chose to charm me while my table watched unable to help. Helpless to resist after failing the save, I lost 1/3 of my HP and was told that I would probably die at the next table because he'd have another two attacks I couldn't resist. The vampire taunted that I could drop the stake and let him escape, if I wasn't willing to die a hero. So I risked it. The next table watched as I went down to 3 HP in the vampire's clutches (the FLGS owner shocked that I had enough HP to survive), then unloaded everything they had. The last attacker at the table was a lowly 1st level player with the Sacred Flame cantrip (1D8), who cried something about only being able to defy him with his weak might. And his roll of 7 damage was enough to kill the vampire!

With a dragon slain by the high tables, another major challenge met by the mid-tiers, and the lower tiers able to finish off the vampire, the tide of battle had turned. My party even survived in my absence, with the assistance of NPCs they were able to recruit before going into the graveyard (a reward passed down from a mid-level table). What a great day of memories, which may have rekindled a desire to play D&D again periodically.

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein"The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest.” - Trump"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. - Nixon

Zarathud wrote:Can't sleep. My sister and her husband convinced me do try the Epic Adventurer's League D&D event at the FLGS this afternoon, complete with the extra hours of power leveling for newbs. I woke up realizing that I've been led into playing the dumb fighter while they're the mages -- so I'll be beaten up tanking while they role play elves like theater nerds.

Maybe I should roll with it and finish the Half-Orc Barbarian. Raised by an Orc Tribe, but now the last survivor with a death wish to go down in glorious battle. Flaw -- reacts violently to any taunt with violence and the battle cry "Blood and Thunder for Gruumsh!" Try to use your sneaky weasel elf ways now...we're going old school hack and slash.

I feel naive and uninformed, but I know next to nothing about organized D&D play with strangers. How would I find such an event near me (and my kids)? Is this all done through the Dungeon Masters Guild (which I know nothing about) or something?

Zarathud wrote:Can't sleep. My sister and her husband convinced me do try the Epic Adventurer's League D&D event at the FLGS this afternoon, complete with the extra hours of power leveling for newbs. I woke up realizing that I've been led into playing the dumb fighter while they're the mages -- so I'll be beaten up tanking while they role play elves like theater nerds.

Maybe I should roll with it and finish the Half-Orc Barbarian. Raised by an Orc Tribe, but now the last survivor with a death wish to go down in glorious battle. Flaw -- reacts violently to any taunt with violence and the battle cry "Blood and Thunder for Gruumsh!" Try to use your sneaky weasel elf ways now...we're going old school hack and slash.

I feel naive and uninformed, but I know next to nothing about organized D&D play with strangers. How would I find such an event near me (and my kids)? Is this all done through the Dungeon Masters Guild (which I know nothing about) or something?

I don't have time for it, but I wish I did. But you could try at the Adventurer's League website. Not an official site, but has a lot of good data. Official site is here, with a handy "Find a game near you" locator

"Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting." - Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia

It's organized play at your local game store or convention in the "Adventurer's League." You show up at an event with a guild # (DCI) from the official site and legal character then they match you up with other players with characters of about equal level. Tier 1 is levels 1-5, Tier 2 is 6-10 and Tier 3 is 10+. Permanent death can happen -- especially once you hit Tier 2 or try an Epic event. Time is about 90 minutes in standard encounters from a module. Hit a series of sessions in order to work your way through a module. GMs are motivated and seem to be better than average because they learn the material by running it many times.

Basically there are slightly modified rules on how to build your character (point buy for stats not rolls and fixed HP per level) to keep things fair, and you keep a log of the character's adventures with the XP, gold, prestige, and downtime rewards along with the DCI for you and your GM. It's not a monty haul event -- you get a few gold and the table gets to give out 1 magic item per session. Magic items are logged but tradable -- a key use of your character downtime.

There was always one player at the table I wouldn't have enjoyed playing with long term, but the mix and requirement to play nice with others you might meet later really made a difference. Moreso than some convention sessions I've played (and even run).

Getting in regularly isn't going to happen but I will probably swing by for one evening a month. I won't level fast, but I'm very happy with the game play as a 4th level fighter (with a glorious +1 long sword allocated to me for being the table noob).

"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." - Albert Einstein"The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest.” - Trump"When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal. - Nixon

I was not a KS backer but I'm familiar with what happened. I also picked up retail copies of the Keeper and Investigator handbooks and they're absolutely gorgeous. For reference, the last edition I owned (and played) was 3rd but I'm excited to read (but never use) these books. Love me some Cthulhu.

EDIT: I've also noticed a solo adventure is being released for the 7th edition on 9/30, at least via Amazon. Not really sure what that's about but I'm very curious.

More on topic, we finally got to play the starter adventure for the Savage Worlds Rifts rules that I kickstarted. Perfect combo of the gonzo Rifts setting without the silly mega damage stuff killing all the fun (well mega damage is still there but workable in the Savage Worlds rules)

Hey, here's a slightly different VTT program question. I want to use one locally for an in-person game as both GM and client.

As mentioned elsewhere, I use a PC when running games. I also use the large TV in my living room, which sits right next to the table. What I usually do is hook the PC to the TV and run it as a cloned monitor (which means that both the TV and laptop show exactly the same thing.) I use it primarily for two things: to display images (of creatures/items/NPCs, etc), and to display maps.

The problem with this system is that everything on the PC is visible to the players, preventing me from using it for notes, books, and other GMing goodies.

I was thinking about using a virtual tabletop program (like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds.) I'd be setting my PC as the GM, then setting up the TV (which has a separate computer attached) as a client, visible to all of my players. The idea would be to use the mapping elements of the software to display the maps and fog of war, plus displaying the images and such.

I've never used a virtual table top. I play mostly Savage Worlds and 5th Edition D&D, although other systems pop up from time to time. The ability to add in custom maps would be vital. Note that all actual play (dice rolling, tactical combat, rules, character sheets) would still be handled at the table the old fashioned way, so rules support isn't completely vital. Which of the various options (Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, other) would work best for this, without costing a fortune?

After asking about this a few places, I'm split between Roll20 and MapTool. I've also gotten a few strong recommendations for Realm Works, a new product from the Hero Forge people.

Roll20 has more advanced vision features, but many of the features are locked behind the subscription. Roll20 also has to be used online.

MapTool is completely free, is used offline, and has all of the features I want, but has a much steeper learning curve. While imported maps will still look the same, it doesn't have the dynamic lighting stuff that Roll20 does. Then again, I'm not sure that lighting is that important anyway. It's nice, but this isn't going to be the focus of the games. That will still be the table, while the map is just a handy way to demonstrate what they're looking at.

Realm Works looks great, but I can't spend $50 right now. I may look at it in the future if I ever get that much free cash and am not sitting on a hundred other expenses.

I am trying to find the link to the application that I saw a few months ago. Got a lot of good recommendations and apparently is just a one time charge to use. I also have heard a lot of people using that Table Top Simulator on Steam

I went with MapTool. It has a bit more of a learning curve and isn't quite as pretty as Roll20 when it comes to fog-of-war, but it is 100% free and 100% offline. I don't have all of the tricks down, but my test run has been successful, with no problems setting up one system (sitting on the table) as the GM server and my TV computer as the player client. I can control what the players see, can interact with the maps, and can display images at will.

I also swapped playing individual audio files for using Foobar 2000 to organize some 300 loops into playlists (General Exteriors, Fantasy Towns, Fantasy Interiors, Caves/Dungeons, etc.) I just run the audio directly to my sound system via bluetooth.

Now instead of using a graphics program to try and do fog-of-war with layers, two sound programs, an image program, and six or seven open folders full of sounds or images with coded names, I have two programs. It is also effective enough that I'll be using it for my screen and books where applicable. It's been a ton of work to set up, but will make everything from prep to running the games faster, smoother, and easier. Front-loading the work is going to pay off.

Just finished a session of Storm King's Thunder for 5e D&D. This is a partial AAR written for the DM's group for that adventure. Spoilers.

Spoiler:

This encounter involves an encounter with an ancient white dragon named Arveiaturace. Arveiaturace is utterly insane. She used to be ridden by a powerful wizard, but the wizard died a long, long time ago. His ancient, freeze-dried corpse is still strapped to her saddle, and she still talks to it as if it were alive, and believes it responds.

The party is level 6. An ancient dragon is an impossible encounter, but it was constructed in such a way that they didn't have to get involved.

Oh, what a sideways romp that was. Just finished a session with my group. They started out in Bryn Shander just after the giant attack in the last session. They made their way to Iron Master to deliver a friend's ashes (switching up the built-in quest), then headed out the patrol Icewind Dale.They made their way along the southern border to Dougan's Hole, then continued east. Before they got to Good Mead, they were hit by a blizzard and had to take shelter in the nearby forest. That's when things got interesting. While they were camped, they heard trees breaking. They stuck their heads out just in time to see a frost giant go flying through the trees, leaving jagged stumps behind, only to end up bent backwards around a larger one. The crashing sound continued, and two of the party members pushed forward to scout it out while the other two and the cleric stayed behind while the cleric cast Speak with Dead on the dead giant.

The two scouts entered a clearing to see a wounded frost giant holding a chunk of torn tree trunk in his hand, looking around as if searching for something.

Cut back to the cleric, questioning the dead dragon. "What killed you?" "Trees.""Ok, what threw you into the trees?""Arveiaturace""What is that?"

Cut back to the two in the front. "The giant speaks the word 'dragon' just as a massive white dragon drops from the sky, claws raised, attacking the giant. On its back is a desiccated, skeletal corpse."Two sets of character traits took charge. The druid has a mortal fear of undead, and thinking he was looking at a lich, turned and fled. The dragonborn fighter, meanwhile, has an absolute hatred of tyrants, which, by his definition, included the 'lich.' He breathed acid and hit the body. Something fell off, but the blizzard, combined with a poor perception roll, prevented the fighter from seeing what it was ( it was the body's arm.) The dragon and giant continued to fight. The fighter used the distraction to charge ahead and clamber up on Arveiaturace's back. He quickly realized that this was no lich - only a lifeless skeleton. He tore it from the straps that held it in the saddle and flung it to the ground.

Arveiaturace made a perception roll and noticed this. This fighter, unknowingly, had just torn up Norman Bates' mother. Arveiaturace snapped in her madness, cried out in Draconic, "Master!", leapt up, and took to the sky, fighter still clinging to the saddle. He pulled himself into the saddle to keep from falling. Arveiaturace, seeing her friend torn in half by this tiny pest, turned and breathed. Fighter went from full to zero. As the rest of the party rushed into the clearing, they saw the fighter, now unconscious but strapped into Arveiaturace's saddle, being carried over the treetops. He begins his death saves.

He rolls a 20. He comes to, 150 feet in the air, with one hit point. I try to give him an out - Arveiaturace is completely off her rocker at this point, so she turns and cries, "Master?" He takes the hint and tries to convince her that he is her master, still alive. He rolls deception. He rolls a 2.At this point, there is nothing that I can do. As a DM, I have to be honest with my players. I gave him a chance to get out of a no-win scenario, but stretching that too far would shred the credibility of my game. Arveiaturace would only do one thing. She turns, she bites. One successful death save and three failures later and the fighter is dead. I compliment the player. He sacrificed his character in favor of playing his traits. That is fantastic. He lost his character, but he was laughing and cheering the whole time - as was the rest of the table.

The best part? He's still strapped into the saddle. The next time they see Arveiaturace in a few months, he'll still be there, and in her madness, she'll believe that THIS desiccated corpse is her old master.